


breaking daisies

by cedricsboyfriend



Series: hedric shorts [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Prompt Fic, Self-Reflection, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23817730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cedricsboyfriend/pseuds/cedricsboyfriend
Summary: another tumblr short based on the prompts: "breaking rules" + "flowers"
Relationships: Cedric Diggory/Harry Potter
Series: hedric shorts [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688842
Comments: 6
Kudos: 99





	breaking daisies

Despite his reputation, Cedric Diggory was never _averse_ to breaking rules.  
People tended to assume, given that he was a Prefect and Hufflepuff, and at the same time polite and soft-spoken; never less than a handsome smile and lovely laughter unless you asked more.

But once, when they tended to the house, his father had told him that the dandelions in the overgrowth of his mother’s garden were pests; they weren’t _real_ flowers. They grew whenever and wherever, sprouting in the soft thrush of long-grassed cliffs and between the cracks of concrete stone, a detriment to the pleasing aesthetics of most suburban lawn owners. And yet, when the time for weeding came, Cedric wondered,

_How could I destroy such a pretty and persistent thing?_

There was not an ounce of harm secreted within a dandelion’s stem, and his mother certainly didn’t seem to mind the bed patches that grew along the fence. Personally, Cedric thought it was rather romantic that the wind would carry a wisher’s hope, alongside the potential of rebirth within the flower's petals.

And so, he went on and often found a lot of dandelions that he tended to leave alone.

It started in an argument with Professor Hooch about a Quidditch rematch, after a boy had fallen off his broom. Then he listened as the same boy, whose rumors spread quick and thick through the castles hall, told him about the dragons in the first Triwizard Tournament task. 

They probably didn’t count. But he should’ve seen it coming.

That Harry Potter would shatter the indifference he had maintained, sluicing it into something less passive. Slowly over time, dandelions sprouted around Cedric until eventually, _he_ was the one that would leave them wherever he went. 

Perhaps he could make a excuse. He felt _compelled_ to give out the password to the prefect’s bathroom. _Compelled_ to lying to the Prophet, to teaching the Army behind the 7th floor corridor. He _had_ to leave their Defense against the Dark Arts professor in the Forbidden Forest and _had_ to break into the Ministry’s dungeons. But arguably he had already broken the greatest rule: his ‘death’.  
Simply being 'compelled' to live isn’t enough to break—never mind a rule but—a pillar, an unshakable objectivity; the one certainty that could stand, in a deeply uncertain world.

And yet here he was, alive, after the green light seared him. Lying on the hillside, the sun set before him while his fingers curled around Harry's own.   
He could hear music from the Burrow. Laughter from the friends at the front of the house, clatters of porcelain against wood; a table full of food waiting for them to get to as well. And usually they would already be there.

But Cedric couldn’t stop himself from just _looking_ —unable to tear from the way the wind tousled Harry’s hair, or how the stretch of farmland and arched hills melted into his eyes. 

In the dying light, Harry looked content. Full cheeks that turned ruddy from climbing the hill, eyes closed as he reclined, feeling the sun kiss him golden—it’d be some sort of barbaric punishment if Cedric forced himself _not_ to stare.

“Sickle for your thoughts?” Harry said suddenly, breaking through the intense gaze. He rose upright. Cedric did the same. 

“What?” he watched as Harry shifted to sit in front of him.

“Usually if you’re thinking that hard, the world must be ending,”

 _“Oh-!”_

Harry laughed as Cedric’s hand swatted at his knee. 

“So you _weren’t_ thinking about something?” he asked. It felt like he was looking at him imploringly. Curious.  
And touch concerned.

“I was… I thought that perhaps, I’m really not so perfect after all,” Cedric said, carefully, thoughtfully “At least not anymore.”

“What makes you say that?” asked Harry. Cedric took a little longer before he answered, and quietly—

“I think I'd probably break the world for you,” he said.

_“Probably?”_

Cedric smiled. “Wouldn’t want you to get _too_ ahead of yourself,”

“Funny as you are, Ced… That’s not good,” Harry's brow knitted together. He had scoffed but the semblance of a smile dropped from the corners of his lip.

“I know. It’s not a _nice_ idea. But from the way we’ve been going-”

“You are my… You’re a part of the world, you know. And if you break yourself… _for me_ , well that would be… It- It’d be counter-productive, you’re sort-of my- er..” Harry trailed off to silence. It took a second for the realization to hit, and then it was Cedric’s turn to scoff. He bent low and burrowed his nose into the fold of his hands.

“Seriously?” he cackled, flushing with pleasure and yet feeling embarrassed for Harry’s sake simultaneously, “Merlin! Is that how you usually try to flirt with me?”

“Stuff it! You know what I’m trying to say-”

“No! I clearly don’t!” said Cedric, unable to contain himself. He rolled to his side while Harry fought his own bubbling laughter, a blush crept into his cheeks as he rapped his knuckles against Cedric’s arm.

“Look I just meant that destruction isn’t important,” he said when Cedric’s laughter eventually faded, “I would rather _make_ the world for you,” 

“Then, would you break more rules for me?” Cedric asked.   
_Is that what it would take?_

“Maybe. But just doing that won’t break the world, I think. It gets remade all the time. Rules and laws… it’s temporary-” 

“Yeah,” Cedric said, nodding. 

“-Except people. Except _you_ ,”   
_It’s worth keeping the world for._

Harry glanced at Cedric with intent but gentle expression. He reconsidered the thought, one more time.

“Then I also, will make the world for you,” he repeated, correcting himself and smiling softly. Only one word had changed and already, it tasted different. Carried _different_ in the air. Cedric felt something wound up inside him, replenish and take hold.

In the sky, the sun crested peaking just above of Harry’s head, who leant forward, and smiled so much it made kissing him difficult. As they walked down the hill to rejoin the others, Cedric saw a familiar plume of white, lilting in the breeze, beside the low treeline that guarded the Burrow. He strolled over, and for the first time Cedric picked the dandelion and blew.

He was not averse to rule-breaking. Cedric Diggory was the type to be indifferent when he knew.  
But the world had changed for him since Voldemort had come to power. Breaking rules felt a necessity, even if his fathers words rang rampant at the back of his head. 

But if he believed Harry, rule breaking was just the same as making _new_ rules. And deep down, Cedric knew, there’d only be one person he’d want to make such things with.

He watched as the dandelion’s separate pinions floated down the hillside, sending one lofty wish to the river.

Cedric dropped the empty stem into the grass.  
He hoped that the Weasley’s wouldn’t mind.

**Author's Note:**

> i was sad that this one didn't as much attention as the others when i looked at my tumblr archive. hope you enjoyed it though!


End file.
